Irish manufacturing solutions firm SmartFactory announced funding of €500,000 as part of the Enterprise Ireland High Potential Start-Up fund. The investment was announced at the recent Start-Up Showcase Event in Croke Park and will see SmartFactory expand its operations and double its workforce over the next three years.

The company, established in 2016 and based in the Nexus Innovation Centre at the University of Limerick, captures, analyses and visualises data for manufacturing industries.

Speaking at the event, CEO Brendan Sheppard said; "We have experienced a large growth in the demand for our solutions, and the significant support via HPSU from Enterprise Ireland greatly assists us in expanding to meet the needs of our clients. We expect to hire a number of new employees in the short term and are actively recruiting in the areas of software development and applications engineering."

The support from state agencies in this area is important, as Sheppard says; "The Digitalisation of the Manufacturing sector in Ireland is looked upon as a vital next step to safeguard against low-cost countries competing for manufacturing facilities and overseas investment."

Speaking about the ability to support growth beyond Ireland, Sheppard added; "Our customers include leading multi-national companies and the HPSU support not only reinforces our future growth plans as we continue to deliver a world-class service to these clients, but also allows us to provide a service to the international sites of these companies from Ireland."

Anthony Kelly, Applications Director, SmartFactory commented; "the support we receive from Enterprise Ireland is more than simply financial. The EI staff whom we work with are experienced in assisting companies such as ours and their help in bringing us on the journey to grow a business around our technologies and solutions has been invaluable."